About
About
The Health Practice Associates Council (HPAC) is a UK non-statutory regulator and professional register for practitioners in pre-hospital urgent and emergency care.
Most of our registrants work in roles outside statutory professional registration. We set registration standards, assess applicants, monitor registrants throughout their registration and take action under our Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics and our Terms and Conditions. Our aim is to protect the health and wellbeing of patients who receive care from our registrants.
The register was initially trialled in 2014, with consultation involving seven NHS ambulance trusts, voluntary organisations and independent ambulance providers. HPAC was formally incorporated as a Community Interest Company in 2017. In October 2020, HPAC registered as a council, taking the name Health Practice Associates Council CIC.
HPAC is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company (CIC) registered in England and Wales, company number 10830551. As a CIC, it is asset-locked and run in the public interest. We are regulated by the Information Commissioner's Office and the Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies.
Our Board of Directors and Council bring together professional expertise through a combination of employed and voluntary roles.
Our mission is to improve accountability for clinicians who are not covered by statutory professional regulation. Registrants can show their qualifications and professional development, and we take appropriate action where a registrant falls short of acceptable standards. Registrants can record reflective practice in their online portfolios using HPAC templates, and we continue to develop tools that support their professional development.
Our Terms and Conditions include our Acceptable Use Policy and Privacy Policy.
Register first trialled
2014
Community Interest Company
Incorporated 2017
Registered as a council
October 2020
Company number
10830551
Assurance for employers, staff and the public
Positive registration
Practitioners appear on our public register only once they have satisfied our registration requirements. These include checks of their identity, background and qualifications, and an assessment of their suitability for registration at the appropriate grade.
The public register lists practitioners who hold current, unrestricted registration, together with those registered on probationary terms. Each status is explained on our registration statuses page.
Identity and background checks
Enhanced DBS check, revalidated every 24 hours
Qualifications verified and mapped to a grade
Driving licences revalidated every 12 weeks
Registration continues while practitioners remain in good standing and meet our Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics. Concerns about a registrant are considered through our fitness to practise process. We can also act under our Terms and Conditions.
Anyone who has been struck off, suspended or made subject to a practice restriction by the HCPC, NMC, GMC or any other regulator is not eligible for HPAC registration.
Linked organisations
With the registrant's permission, organisations can link to their HPAC registration through the HPAC portal. Linked organisations are notified of fitness to practise reviews, suspensions and removals, if new information appears on the registrant's DBS certificate and if the registrant is placed on probation.
They are also notified if a driver is removed from HPAC's blue light driver register following licence suspension, driving disqualification, seven or more penalty points or voluntary deregistration.
Employers
Employers who require HPAC registration should check a practitioner's current registration on the public register, either by searching it or by scanning the NFC chip or QR code on their HPAC ID card. An ID card or certificate alone does not confirm current registration.
Previous registration
Requests for information about a person's previous registration with HPAC, including any removal from the register, must be made using the Section 29 Disclosure Request Form. Each request is considered individually, and information is disclosed only where it is lawful and appropriate to do so.
How we check
We check every applicant before registration and continue to monitor registrants throughout their registration.
Before registration
Identity
We verify each applicant's identity documents and check them for quality. The name on the register must match those documents.
Right to work
Where a right-to-work check is needed, we check the applicant's Home Office share code.
DBS
Each applicant needs an enhanced DBS check, linked to the DBS Update Service.
Qualifications
We check each primary qualification individually and map it to the appropriate HPAC registration grade.
Professional registers
We check the HCPC (including tribunal records), NMC, GMC, SIA and PHECC registers and the College of Policing Barred List.
Background screening
We carry out open-source screening for matters such as reported court proceedings, regulatory action, safeguarding concerns and relevant public conduct.
Driving
Where relevant, we verify driving licences directly with the DVLA, with the applicant's permission. We accept blue light driving qualifications only through statutory ambulance service or DTAG-recognised routes.
An applicant's honesty, openness and conduct throughout the application also form part of our assessment.
Throughout registration
DBS
DBS status is revalidated every 24 hours through the DBS Update Service. If new information appears on a certificate, HPAC and the organisations linked to the registrant are alerted.
Blue light driving
Driving licences are revalidated with the DVLA every 12 weeks. A driver whose licence is suspended, who is disqualified from driving or who has seven or more penalty points is removed from the blue light driver register, and linked organisations are notified.
Qualifications and training
We monitor primary qualifications for expiry and remind registrants before they lapse. Statutory and mandatory training is monitored in the same way where the registrant's organisation uses this service.
Records
We keep professional records, including messages and case notes, on each registrant's file.
ID cards, certificates and organisations
ID cards
Each HPAC ID card links, by NFC or QR code, to the registrant's live entry on the public register.
Certificates
Certificates for HPAC training can be verified online or by QR code.
Organisations
Organisations joining the HPAC portal are checked against Companies House or the Charity Commission, or by HPAC directly for NHS bodies. We also confirm the identity and authority of the person signing up. Only organisations a registrant has linked to, with their permission, can see the registrant's records.
Access to the register
How the public, registrants and organisations use HPAC.
Public
The HPAC UK Register is free for anyone to search. It confirms who is registered, including those registered on probationary terms, and shows basic information about each registrant.
Registrants
The annual registration fee covers the running costs of the register, identity verification, certificate checks, DBS monitoring and a high-quality ID card.
Registrants keep a profile containing their personal details, evidence of training, clinical qualifications, ongoing learning and reflective practice. Registrants linked to an organisation through the HPAC portal can also receive and respond to action plans and compliance documents issued by that organisation.
Organisations
Organisations using the HPAC portal must follow strict rules on the responsible use of registrant data. Organisation subscriptions help to fund the register and are charged in four bands based on turnover.
With the registrant's permission, an organisation can link to their registration, view their profile, record compliments and concerns, and receive notifications about their registration. Registering your organisation
Information governance and data security
Information governance
Users must not upload, store or share patient-identifiable or commercially sensitive information on HPAC UK. Anyone who does so may have their access blocked. HPAC administrators promptly remove any content that breaches NHS or approved organisation information governance policies.
Data security
HPAC complies with UK data protection law, under the oversight of the Information Commissioner's Office, and with our Privacy Policy. Information on the register is protected by industry-standard security measures, and all communication between your browser and hpac-uk.org is encrypted.
Training, qualifications and scope of practice
Scope of practice
Registrants can upload evidence of clinical, driving and other training, including additional clinical modules. Organisations linked to a registrant can view this evidence and use it to assess the registrant.
HPAC records additional competencies traditionally associated with each grade. HPAC does not authorise clinical practice. Scope of practice is the responsibility of the practitioner and their employer, in line with the law, guidance, training and competencies that apply where they practise.
Who benefits
Public
HPAC's main aim is to improve clinicians' accountability and competence. This helps to prevent unsafe individuals from gaining access to service users and raises standards of practice.
Organisations
Trusts and organisations can check a prospective staff member's registration on the public register before giving them access to service users. Once linked to a registrant, they can view the registrant's training and qualification evidence and receive notifications about their registration.
Registrants
Registration with HPAC strengthens credibility and accountability and protects role autonomy. Registrants can use the My Portfolio CPD tool and its Reflective Practice templates to create, record, edit, archive, download and share their professional development records, which can also help at interview.
Registrants can upload certificates and other evidence of learning and share them with the trusts and organisations they are linked to.
Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics
Our registrants work in a range of settings, including direct practice, management, education and research, with patients, clients, carers and other professionals. They are required to abide by HPAC's Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics.
Frequently Asked Questions
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What does HPAC mean by strictly positive registration?
HPAC's public register lists practitioners who have satisfied our registration requirements and remain in good standing. It confirms current registration rather than displaying rejected applications, suspensions or removals.
HPAC has an established fitness to practise process, with review panels responsible for considering concerns and determining appropriate outcomes. Where necessary, this may result in temporary suspension during an investigation, suspension for a specified period following an investigation, or removal from the register. In each case, the practitioner will not be searchable on the public register while the suspension or removal remains in effect.
At this stage of HPAC's development, this is a proportionate approach. It allows us to focus our resources on rigorous admission checks, continuous monitoring, safeguarding and the fair consideration of concerns, while providing employers and the public with reliable assurance of current registration.
As HPAC grows and further funding becomes available, we intend to establish fully resourced tribunal services and expand public reporting to include sanctions, removals and the reasons for those decisions. This is the natural next step towards accreditation through the Professional Standards Authority's Accredited Registers programme, a milestone we are working towards and are confident of achieving.
Employers requiring HPAC registration can verify a practitioner's current standing through the public register. Where registration is removed, organisations linked to the registrant through the HPAC portal are notified that the association has ended.
How do you verify registrants and monitor DBS?
Every registrant on our register has been verified. We verify each registrant's identity, qualifications and, where relevant, driving licence, and carry out an enhanced DBS check. DBS status is revalidated every 24 hours, and if new information appears on a certificate, HPAC and linked organisations are alerted. Our checks are set out in full under How we check.
All registrants are expected to maintain CPD relevant to their registered grade. Organisations can link to a registrant's registration only with the registrant's permission.
Joining the register, as a registrant or as an organisation using the HPAC portal, helps to raise standards across the sector, promotes best practice and helps to keep patients, the public and staff safe.
Who is registered and how much does it cost?
We register practitioners in pre-hospital urgent and emergency care roles, such as first aiders, ambulance care assistants, emergency care assistants and ambulance technicians. Our grades page explains how we map grades and which training and qualifications each grade requires. Please read it before applying.
Registration costs £84.50 for one year or £149.50 for two years, and renews automatically on the renewal date. The first registration fee includes a high-quality ID card, in the style of a driving licence, with multiple security features. It also includes an enhanced DBS check if the applicant is not already on the DBS Update Service. Further DBS checks and replacement ID cards carry an additional charge.
What are HPAC's mission statement and core values?
Mission statement
The Health Practice Associates Council puts the patient at the centre of everything we do. We seek to ensure best practice, high standards of competence, proficiency and patient safety are adhered to by all our registered practitioners through regulation and support.
Core values
- Put patient and public safety first
- Show care and compassion to all stakeholders
- Always strive to be fair and objective in decision making
- Pursue best practices at all times
Who owns HPAC and how did it start?
HPAC is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company registered with Companies House. Its assets are locked for the benefit of the community, and it is run in the public interest.
HPAC’s register was launched because there was no register for the tens of thousands of ambulance staff, other than paramedics, working across the sector. It was developed with seven NHS ambulance trusts, with input from St John Ambulance, the British Red Cross and leading independent ambulance providers, to help monitor and improve standards across the sector.
Our Vice-Chairman led the project to register paramedics in the UK in 2001. He also set up and ran the IHCD programme, which NHS ambulance services used nationwide for many years to train paramedics and ambulance technicians. Our Chairman was Chair of the College of Paramedics from 2010 to 2017. He wrote many of the standards the HCPC uses to hold paramedics to account and introduced many improvements to paramedic training standards and to the way NHS ambulance services work, including Make Ready.
How do I register my organisation?
Organisations can use the HPAC portal to link to their staff's registration, with each registrant's permission. Our organisation information page explains how to register your organisation.
How can I contact HPAC?
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Telephone: 020 8004 8226 (Tuesday to Friday, 10am to 4pm)